We were excited about today, Aug 23rd which was the date that the parts were to be released by the manufacturer and on route to Trail!! Well, that didn’t happen. Our conversation with the Trail Ford dealership was actually worse than any scenario we could imagine. Even the parts manager was in awe of the debacle. No one seems to know where parts are, when they are being released, if any will be available this year, we are seriously wondering does the manufacturer actually exist, do people actually work at the manufacturer. Who knows? We are so done with this!

And SO: decision made. We are making the journey back to Ontario. We leave tomorrow and will travel north to Nelson and then take the ferry to avoid the huge Salmo mountain that took us out on the way here. We have practised our gear shifting and are confident we can do this AND are fully trained on how to avoid curbs!

We had visitors! Barb’s friends Marielle & Bud Fraser from Kelowna dropped by on their return home from their great cross country RV tour (at least someone gets to travel…)

Their ride is a Class C named ”Freda”. Marielle has worked her magic painting, upholstering and decorating. It is super cute!!

Our guts were telling us that no way would the front rotors be in the Aug 23rd shipment. So we talked with the truck mechanic Mike and got a refresher on how to drive the RV on the major declines without riding the brakes. After a short lesson on downshifting, coming to the best possible stop at the top of any hill, continuing to use tow/haul and never to ride the brakes but to pump them we decided to do a test run. Since our drive back to Ontario was going to be about 3000km without new brakes/rotors or fingers crossed maybe only 50% new front rotors we planned a trip back to nearby Rossland where a very steep 9% grade with a hairpin turn into a 4 way intersection with stop signs awaited us. Lori’s was totally pumped to test drive using manual shifting and very little brakes. We got the motorhome all ready to pull out only to find, or not to find, little Miss Safiya. She was missing yet again.

To fill you in, we have MacGiver’d under the steering column and behind the pedals as posted on Aug 12th, however not well enough. We then moved to foam as the cardboard didn’t fool her. This seemed to work for a few days, until now when she got in under the steering column when we were all excited to GO. Given we have no idea what is in the space she goes into, we don’t want to start the vehicle and drive while she is in there. 3 hours later she showed up, but by then our enthusiasm for the test drive had turned to Gin and Tonics. We agreed the following morning, we would grab Safiya as soon as we saw her and put her in her playpen and take off.

The following morning we pulled out of the park around 8:30am, re-enthused! Lori was driving and was able to play with the manual gears going into the town of Trail. We were headed off to get our propane tank filled and knew the location was on the other end of town, yet had NO idea of the incline of the road until we were well on our way with nowhere to turn around. We got the propane and discussed the drive back which was downhill. Reality set in that we were going to be tested on our shifting skills, or lack thereof. Then Lori heard ”oh shit” from Barb, as she read the grade descent level of 9% for the next 2km. Barb then asked “Lori can you do this without breaking”? (Not really a typo lol)

Happy to report Lori shifted into first gear, much to the demise of all the people behind us, and went the next 2 km at 30km an hour. And NO brakes required at that speed HA!

Given our new enthusiasm and confidence in driving we decided to whip into the Canadian Tire. Well it was a bit of an over-whip as Lori drove over a curb. THAT was delightful!!

While this quote is borrowed from one of our favourite shows Yellowstone, it really fits perfectly to our ongoing situation.

SO there is ALWAYS more drama with each phone call (hence the quote). Last week’s local Ford dealer phone call informed us that only 1/2 the parts have been ordered. Meaning only the 2 front rotors instead of all 4. Not sure how that happened, but it did. We then got a follow up call informing us, or really NOT informing us, if our parts make it into the next Ford US shipment date of Aug 23rd then they should arrive by Sept 6th. However, there was an huge possibility they wouldn’t make that shipment and no one could apparently tell anyone until sometime after the 23rd whether they were included.

You can only imagine how unimpressed we are with this news….lack of news. How does one make a decision when they have no info.! While Barb keeps her anger tightly bound and somewhat hidden, Lori decided to take everything in stride.

Given the news, we knew we should make decisions on the two possible scenarios:

1. What happens if the parts don’t come in

2. What happens if they do

The reason there are decisions for both, is that Barb needs to be back for her daughter’s wedding mid September and Barb’s dress needs to be altered (kind of important), so the timeline is getting really TIGHT.

Scenario #1 – parts don’t get shipped out on Aug 23rd for Sept 6 arrival: we leave Trail on Aug 24th and slowly make our way back home. Whether we go through the U.S or Canada is yet to be determined.

Scenario #2 – parts get shipped on Aug 23rd with potential arrival of Sept 6th. Barb flies home right away and Lori stays to get the FRONT rotors/brakes fixed. Barb then flies back end of Sept and we make our way back to Ontario.

Each scenario will still require repairs at another Ford dealer in Ontario, at a minimum the back rotors that were never ordered and possibly all 4 rotors if the front ones don’t arrive in Trail, BC. So the RV must return to Ontario where we can stay at Barb’s house while the repairs get finalized before we head down south for the winter.

The good news out of all of this?? Dealership here in Trail, given their screw up, has agreed to put in writing, that all 4 rotors are to be covered under the Ford warranty. This letter should help us get the Ontario dealership to do the fix for free.

We finally have a tentative date on parts, which is Sept 6th. That is NOT a typo…..nor a guarantee…..soooooo

Our choices:

1. Stay in Trail and hope parts come in before the snow flies.
2. Leave the RV here and rent a car and travel around the Kootenay’s while we wait for the parts
3. Leave with the RV and slowly make our way back to Ontario to get the Motorhome fixed there. We apparently can drive the motorhome, we just have to make sure the brake rotors don’t overheat…….so say the two mechanics who know our situation inside and out.

So what are we going to do? We are not sure at the moment as we weigh our options.

When life gives you lemons……you have choices – August 22nd

We have built a extra floor over the stairs to allow for more Winston space…..It is quite brilliant really and easy to move over to allow us out of the motorhome. We have spent lovely days outdoors reading and lounging. We have made sure the critters were well looked after, and informed Winston the driver’s seat was not a place for him to occupy his time.

We have clearly been feeding them well with ”lip smacking” food given these looks!

We continue to cook outstanding meals

Toad in a hole breakfast, breakfast pudding made from coconut milk/almond milk/chia/holy crap cereal and a Buddha bowl with tofu. ALL excellent!

We had a friend over from Kelowna BC. Sharon Babcock drove up to Trail to spend the weekend with us. We wandered around Trail and went to Gyro park for a leisurely swim in the Columbia River and crossed the Columbia River Skywalk. While there were a lot of murals to take pictures of, there was one which was pretty spectacular with the utilization of the actual windows of the building.

We have also had to block a hiding spot from Safiya which you can see is under the steering wheel and behind the foot pedals. WHERE she goes when she is in there, only she is aware, but none the less we have blocked it off as best we can……until we go to drive, at which point she will be locked in her playpen!

All in all, we keep busy, the days fly by and we are still enjoying the area. We are however getting anxious to be back on the road.

We were sitting at the table the other day and talked about how nice it would be to have some flowers in the Motorhome, since we are here for a bit. Then low and behold…………BJ (campground host) came walking down the road to us with some freshly cut roses from his little garden pot. Into a empty wine bottle they go and voila we have flowers! Thank you BJ !

And a note about ‘our kitchen tent’. It actually belongs to Elaine Reid and Lori yet we borrowed it for the summer as Elaine is away living in Scotland and clearly isn’t using it. It is fantastic and saving us from complete heat and sun exposure. First off it’s an amazing design that can be opened by one person. Well……maybe two if it’s Lori and Barb. Anyhow it’s fairly easy to set up and a great size. We sit in it to watch the outdoor TV and avoid the sun. We also do yoga in it in the mornings. It works well to have both Winston and Safiya in it off leash. What a gem!

We are still in Trail BC at the campground, but luckily for us there is a Pet Land right beside our campsite. They have everything we need, to do the one thing Winston hates the most…..BATH TIME! Now to be clear, Winston loves the water…..on his terms. Being stuck under a shower head with a bunch of shampoo and conditioner isn’t really his cup of tea. We do know he feels better afterward, and he does smell fabulous! Winston also gets a treat at the end, so it isn’t all bad.

We are going to have to start taking lots of pics of the types of vehicles and trailers people use as there are some real cool rigs out there. Let’s start with the Slingshot, how cool would this be on the road! The turquoise old school bus was occupied with a family of Australians. Lovely young family traveling to Yellowstone Park. We loved the look of this, seriously retro!! The “tour” bus was two guys on their way to a F1 race, and they had pit passes. Lori was so jealous. Of course we can’t not talk about boys and their toys. Huge RV towing a huge trailer with gold cart and motorcycles, towing a car. Honestly overkill, but certainly drew a crown of men to “chat up” the owner.

When one retires from a company, you wonder what you get as a good-bye/farewell/thanks for everything you’ve done gift………

Lori’s leader, John MacAulay knowing she wanted to go on a RV adventure, chose to get her a 197 piece lego set that turned into a fabulous Class C motorhome! Lori had fun putting it together as Barb diligently categorized the 4 packages of lego and all the parts that came in them. And, as in real life, there were pieces left over….thinking they were just extra in case one looses a part or the rotors go on the thing. It has a wall that opens, a rooftop patio if you want, a little family as well as all the little cooking and food accessories. Lego thinks of it all. Once we were done and taken our pictures, we gave it to a young family in the campground who we knew would enjoy playing with it. So the gift will continue to keep on giving. Thank you John!